Review: Prisoner at the Bar
| Published date | 01 April 1931 |
| Date | 01 April 1931 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X3100400219 |
REVIEWS
3
13
taking of casts. This method has very serious disadvantages.
It
is not
suitable for ordinary work done by ordinary men.
The
materials are not
easy to obtain and heat must be available. Further, the result, though beau-
tiful if taken with great care, is terribly brittle. Hans Gross, in his classic
work on Criminal Investigation, after discussing every possible way of taking
casts, finally decides in favour of plaster of Paris, chiefly because it can be
obtained anywhere and needs no assistanceexcept cold water.
Mr.
Moriarty
states that • Plaster of Paris casts are often too rough and coarse to be of much
service.' This should not be the case if the mixture is carefully made and
reasonably good plaster is used. Certainly
if
taken with proper care they are
quite good enough to render identification certain. Further, plaster can be
used in practically every kind of material in which a footprint is likely to be
found in this country, e.g. clay, dust, snow.
It
will be remembered that Le
Coq used plaster scraped from the walls of a cottage when he could get
nothing else and found it necessary to take casts of prints in melting snow.
The
truth is that plaster of Paris can almost always be used with success,
and that the mixture of resin and wax or indeed special modelling wax, both
of which require to be heated, can only be used on special occasions by ex-
perts when a very pretty exhibit seems to be called for.
The
book is divided into two parts, the first dealing with police pro-
cedure and occupying about three-fifths of the whole.
The
second part
consists of matters relating to administration, such as the general organization
of English police forces, questions of service, pay, misconduct, and pensions.
There is also a chapter onspecial constables, and a table of statutes and a good
index is appended. Concisely written and of small size, this will be found
a useful book of reference to English police officers, as also to officers of
Dominion and Colonial Police Forces who are interested in our English
system.
The
lay reader will also be enabled to appreciate many of the diffi-
culties which can arise between the public and the police.
PRISONER AT
THE
BAR. By
ARTHUR
R. L.
GARDNER.
lOS.
6d. net.
(Philip Allan.)
As one reads Mr. Gardner's original studies of criminal life one can hardly
heIr feeling that were it not for his obvious sincerity, well hidden behind a
vei of satire and quiet humour, there would be a sore temptation to call the
author an arch-apologist of crime. Even taking into consideration the witty
way in which Mr. Gardner makes his points, it is impossible not to feel that
his sympathies are all with the criminal classes rather than with the greater
mass of law-abiding society, which it is the duty of the State to protect.
At the same time it is only fair to state that Mr. Gardner's book is a
refreshingly original contribution to criminological literature. Mr. Gardner
has had many opportunities of studying the underworld from a variety of
angles, and he has made the most of his opportunities. However, it would
appear that his conclusions are sometimes a trifle fallacious; for instance, to
prove several of his points he quotes statements made to him by various
members of the criminal classes, together with extracts from the memoirs of
certain notorious characters.
In
thus basing his arguments on such unre-
liable evidence, Mr. Gardner would seem to have forgotten that most be-
setting sin of all criminals-vanity. Had he given due weight to this most
important consideration, he would doubtless have thought twice before
accepting blindly the opinions or statements of these interesting
but
plausible
denizens of crookdom.
Mr.
Gardner seems to advocate throughout nearly the whole of his book
the treatment of the criminal as an insane person. and as one to be treated
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting